Call signal and motor control box for simplex printers



Dec. 1, 1931. BLANTON 1,834,910

CALL SIGNAL AND MOTOR CONTROL BOX-FOR SIMPLEX PRINTERS Filed Aug. :5, 1929 0 pm? in Pa iitio y 53 532 i I 16 #014 16 swam W B. BLA/vm/v pending application of E.

Patented Dec. 1, 1931 UNITED STATES WILLIAM B. ELAN TON, OF BROOKLYN, N EW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PATENT OFFlC THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK oALL SIGNAL AND Moron. ooNrnoL BOX FOR SIMPLE-X PRINTERS Application filed August 3, 1928. Serial No. 383,235.

' This invention relates to a call signal for a telegraphsystem and more particularly for a system employing printing machines.

- In printing telegraph systems it is desirable, inorder to save wear on the printing machines, eliminate noise and conserve on the current consumption of the machines, to maintain the driving motors idle when the circuit isn'otin operation but to have the printing unit immediately available when it is desired to transmit thereto.

In a copendingiapplication of'Rothermel and Hewitt, filed'Aug. 31, 1929,Serial N 0.

389,850, there is described, a call signal and motor control system for simplex printers in-which the call signal and, if desired, the motor of the printing and transmitting unit are controlled at the'distant station by a single open circuit condition of the line, the call system responding irrespective of the length of the time the open circuit condition is maintained. While this system has proven highly satisfactory there are certain installations in which so-called concentrators are employed at one terminal of the line, to which the above mentioned system is not well adapted since there isan opening of the line of from one to two seconds when the concentrator' operator removes the plug of the printer cord circuit from the line jack, which sets up a' false operation of the call signal. The concentration unit comprises a number of operating positions with a number of simplex printer lines disposed before each position so that the operator may plug into any one of the lines to receive or transmit over the line.

The improper operation of the signal device, due to the concentrator operator remov ing the plug from the line jack, has been avoided in a call system described in a co- W. Hewitt, filed Aug. '3, 1929, Serial No. 383,37 6, this latter system requiring a succession of open circuit conditions of the line, to effect the operatlon of the call signal.

It is one of the objects of the present inventio'n to provide a call system for a telegraph circuit operablefby a predetermined condition of the line, which may be employed Other objects and advantages will heroin after appear.

In accordance with my invention I employ, at the station to be called, an audible or a visible signal, the operation of which is controlled, by a single open circuit condition of the line, through a pair of co-operat-ing relays having diflerent speeds of operation, one being fast to operate and one slow to operate, and a manually operated switch having two positions, i. e., and a signal position, in the latter of which the switch is placed when the printing and transmitting unit is idle. The manual switch is associated with the printing and transmitting unit and the signal controlling relays so that the call signal controlling mechanism is operable only when the switch is in the signal position.

hen an open circuit condition is produced'by the calling operator, the fast relay will release its contact tongue, which will close a contact to operate the call signal device and at the same time close a short circuit for its winding through the contacts of the slow relay. If the open circuit condition is discontinued before the slow relay has released its contact tongue, the call signal will remain in operation until discontinued by the attendant at the called station throwing the manual switch to its operating position. If, however, the open circuit condition of the line is prolonged for a suflicient period to enable the armature of the slow relay to be released, the call signal circuit may be broken at the relay contact and only a momentary energizing of the call signal device will have occurred, or the call signal circuit a motor operating position 82 and motorcontrol system in which the call signal remains inoperation; during theentire period of operatlon of the printingand ransmi ing uni each direction,

may be maintained as long as the open circuit condition continues but will be opened when the open circuit condition is discontinued.

If desired the motor of the printing and transmitting unit may be automatically started simultaneously'with the closing of the call signal circuit. v

The motor of the printing and transmitting unit'is stopped, when the exchange of business has been completed, by the attendant manually returning the switch to the signal position, thus conditioning the call mechanism so it will respond to the succeed:

ing call.

In Order that'the invention'may be, more fully understood reference will; be made to.

the accompanying drawings in which:

F gurel s a circuit chagram of the call system applied to a simplex printing unit;

Figure 2 isga circuit diagram showing the alo y tem anda-utoln ic m or control for impl xfipr n ;and:

Figure 3 is a circuit diagramofa callsignal In he drawings I have shown diagramm tica lytheapp a and c u t rang ment atajsingle station only, it being understood thatthe opposite end of the line may terminate in a concentration unit 'orvother apparatumor where it is desired to call in; a similar apparatuslmay be emp oyed he ppo t n f thel ne- The s en ial, app ra us o th e l ys em,

1 comprisestheprintingand transmitting unit a, manual swit h 6, a fast to operate and f 8st. torelease relay 7 a slow slow torelease relay 8 and asignaldeviceil, The printing. andtransmitting unit is die agrammatically illustrated and includes the.

transmitting contacts 10, selecting magnet 11 J and motor 12.. Themanual switch 6 is illusdouble throw, knifetr at ed as a double-pole,

, switch, having contacts 13, 1a, 15, 16,17 and shown in Figure Cont ating position of the switch and contacts 15 and 18the signal position.

i The controlling relays .7 and 8 are each pro videcl. with two, tongues 19 20 and 21, 22, respectively. Tongues 19 and 20 of relay 7 are each provided with a single back contact 23 and 24, respectively, and the tongues 21; and 22 of the relay 8 are each provided with asingle front contact whe the line is idle and therelay windings energized is jsuchthatfthe contacts of relay 7 v are open and those of relay 8 closed, as g 1.- When an open circuit condition of the line is produced of" insuf; ficient duration to releasethe tongues of reay' 8, al he eley tsare e's ts to operate and;

acts 13 and 16 constitute the oper and 26, respectively; The normal position of the relay tongues shown in Figure 2. This is the normal position of the relay contacts for operating the call signal. WVhen a prolonged open circuit I condition of the line is produced the contacts of relay 7 are closed and those'of relay 8 opened, as shown in Figure3.

Referring first to the system shown in Figure1,itwill be noted that with the line idle and switch 6 in the signal position, the contacts 23 and 24 will be open and the contacts 21 and 22 closed by the'stead y line current, the line circuit being completed from the line 27 through switch contacts 15 and 1 conductor 28, winding, of the relay 7, conductor 29, winding of the relay 8, conductor 30 and generator 31, tocthe ground, at 32 Theseec ing magn t l a d t ansm g @Qntacts 10, of theprinting and transmitting unit, are: short circuited, across .the contacts l and 15. Whenan open-circuit condition of the line is produced the relay tongues 19 and 20 of relay 7 areifirst released, thetongues; 21 and 22 1 of therelay 8 beingiretained again stitheir contacts by the slow ;to release-characterise tic ofrthe-relaya"Theclosingof contact 2Q completes the signal circuit from one side 30' ofthe power line through conductor 31,- w t h weeds .1? and c rfia eml er eaw ucto fi l y CQ 39 2. conductor relay contact 2i and conductor 35to the opposite side 36 of the power line. At the same time the winding of the relay 7 is ,short c rcu tedthrough the contact 23,

' conductor 37' and contact 26 so as, to maintain the tongue'2O closed I a v a If the circuit conditionisl ofj" such short idurationthat the relay 8 does not have snfiicienttinie togrelease its tongues, the signal.

will be maintained inoperation untilmanually released bythe operator, whose attention hasbeen attracted by'the signal, throwing the manual switch ,6 to the operation po-. sition. If,fhowever, the open circuit condition is ofsuchduration as to eflectv the release ofthe tonguesof the relay 8, as by the disengagement of thefplug. at theconcentrationjunit or due to an accidental opening of the line, the signal circuit will beimme diately opened-at the'contact 25 and the short circuit for the relay7 willbe opened at contact 26., thus restoring the winding of the relay 7 to the line circuit and'reconditioning the system to respond to a true, call signal of theproper duration.- 1 a In practice I have found that a slow relay which releases in about, one-thirdof a second and, operates in from one-fiftieth to one onehundredth of a second to be' satisfactory providingthe rel ay 7 is sufficiently rapid."

If, for instance, the open circuit condition of theline is maintained for a sufficient, pe-

tact 26, since should contact 23 of relay 7 close before contact 26 opened, the short circuit for relay 8 would be reestablished and the call signal would continue to operate.

Upon movement of the switch 6 to its operating position the circuit to the motor 12 is closed from the conductor 31, contacts 17 and 16, conductor 38, motor 12 and conductor 7 39 to the power line and at the same time the relays 7 and 8 are short circuited across the contacts 13 and 14 so that there will be no extra resistance or inductionincluded in the line due to the control mechanism. The short circuiting of relay 8 releases the contact tongues thereof and thus breaks the short circuit to the winding of the relay 7 so that upon return of the switch 6 to its signal po sition the controlling relays will be in con dition to respond to the succeeding signals.

The motor is stopped after the exchange of business has been completed by manually returning the switch 6 to its-signal position.

' In Figure 2 I'have shown a slightlydifierent arrangement in which the motor 12 is started simultaneously withthe closing of the circuit to the signal device, so that the transmitting operator need not wait for the attendant to throw over the manual switch, but may transmit immediately. In such case it is necessary that the selecting magnet 11 remain in the line in both the signal and operating positions of the switch '6, which is accomplished by leaving the contact 15 disconnected. The motor and signal device circuits are completed-by the closing of the relay contact 24 and may be traced from the power conductor'30'through the conductor 40, contacts 24 and 25, conductor 41 to the point 42, where the current divides,

part going through the conductor 43 and motor 12 to the point 47 and the other part go ing through the conductor 44, switch contacts 17 and 18, conductor 45, signal device 9 and conductor 46 to the point'47, where the current recombines and proceeds to the opposite side 36 of. the power line. The motor 12 is thus started into operation so that the transmitting operator may immediately transmit to the printing unit.

'As soon as the attention of the attendant has been attracted'by the operation of his signal device, he moves the switch 6 to the operating position, thus breaking the signal circuit at the contact 18 and completing the motor circuit across the contacts 16 and 17. The continued operation of the motor will then not be dependent upon perfect electrical connections at the relay contacts 24 and 25.

If, for some reason, the attendant is not -present at the time the call is made, the

transmitting operator may nevertheless proceed to transmit and at the conclusion of the transmission to stop the motor of the printing apparatus vby producing an open circuit condition sufiioiently prolonged to cause the slow to release relay 7 to release, thereby interrupting the motor circuit at contact 24 and the short circuit around relay 8 at contact 23.

In Figure 3 a further arrangement is shown similar to Figure 2 except that the signal lamp is maintained in operation during the entire period of operation of the printing and transmitting unit. This arrangement is desirable where there are a number of printing units located in the same room since it gives the attendant a visible indication of which machines are in operation.

' With the switch 6 in the signal position the motor and signal circuits may be traced from the power conductor 36 to the point 48, where the current divides, part going through the motor 12 to the point 49 and part going by the conductor 50, signal device 9 and conductor 51 to the point 49, where the current recombines and returns to the power line through the conductor 52, relay contacts 25 and 24, conductor 53, and contacts 18 and 17 of the switch 6. When the switch is in the operating position, the circuit for the motor and signal is completed as before to the point 49, from which it proceeds through conductor 54 and contacts 16 and 17 to the power line.

Thus it will be noted that the signal lamp serves both as a call signal when the system is idle and as an indicating lamp to indicate the operating condition of the system during the transmission of business.

If desired, the relay tongue 21 and its contact 22, of the slow relay 8 may be omitted and the contact 24 connected directly to the conductor to which the contact 25 is connected, in which case the signal will not be discontinued when the slow relay releases its tongue but will remain in operation as long as the open circuit condition of the line continues. However, the short circuit path of the winding of the fast relay 7 will be opened upon release of the tongue of the slow relay 8 so as to enable the relay 7 to restore itself when the open circuit condition of the line is discontinued and thereby open the signal circuit.

This is particularly desirable in connection with the embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 3, since it eliminates one contact in the completion of the motor circuit.

It is obvious that other changes and arrangements may be devised within the scope of the invention and therefore I do not desire to be limited to the exact circuit arrangementsillustrated and described, except in accordance with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A call system for a telegraph system comprising a signal device, means for operating said signal device only in response to a predetermined condition of the line of short duration, said means comprising a fast to 1eleaserelay and a slow to release relay, in the line circuit. 1 r v I 2. A call system for a telegraph; systemv comprising a signal device, a circuit there;

circuit: condition of-theilgine to close said,

signalcircuit and at the same time short circuiting the W nding of the fast relay and said slow clay operating after arpredetermined duration of said open circuit condition of the line to open the shortcircuit path of the .Winding'of the fast relay;

' {A call system. for a telegraphfsystem 7 comprising a signal device, a. circuit therefor, a. fast: relay and. a slow relay in the. line circuit, said fast relayrespondmg to an open circuit COnClltlOlL of the line to close said signal circuit and at. the same time short circuitthe windingfof the fast relay, and

said slow relay operating after a predetermined duration of said. open circuit. condition of the line toopen the short circuit to the winding of the feat relay, and, means for opening said signal circuit. andifor short,

circuiting the windings of both relays,

5. Ina telegraph system having a printing machine andfa driving motor therefor, acall. signal and motor control system comprising a' signal device, a circuit therefor, a: circuit for said motor and relay means: responsive only to a predetermined condition of the line of short duration forclosingand Inaintaining the motor, and signal circuitssimultaneously. 7. J I v 6. In a; telegraph system having sprint,-

ing machine and a driving motor therefor, a,

call signal and motor control system coniprii circuit for said motor and relay means, T8: sponsive only to an open circuit condition of theline of shortdura-tion for closing and maintaining the motor and signal. circuits, and a manually operated switch for closing said motor circuit independently of said relay means.

7. In a telegraph system having a printing'machine and a driving motor therefor, a callsignal and motor control system comprising a signal device, a circuit therefor, a circuit for said motor and relaymeans responsive only to an open circuit condition of the line of short durationfor simultaneously closing and maintaining the motor-and; signal circuits, and a manually-- operated switch for, opening saidjsignal; circuit, ClOS-J ing saidimotor circuit independently of? said ng a signal device, a circuit therefor, a

relay and, short circuiting saidj relay means.

58,, In telegraph system having a print ingymachine and adriving motor therefor, a.

the signal circuit and a, manually operated i switch for. opening; said signal Y circuit, closing said-motor circuit and short circuiting saidrelay, means. i p, I

10. .In a telegraph system having a. printing-machine, and. a. driving motor therefor, a call: signal and motor control system comprising a signaldevice, acircuittherefonn circuitfor said motor, relay means responsive only to predetermined condition oftheline of short duration for=closing and maintaining the signal circuitand a'manually operated switch for opening said signal circuit and closing saidmotor'circuit, c

111 lna telegraph system having a printingmachine including a code signal responsive mechanism and a driving motor, a call system comprising; a call signal, device, a circuit, thcreforpa circuit for said motor, a switchhavingan {operating position and a signalposition, said. switch in its, signal positionpreparing the'eircui-t for. said call signal device and, means-for closing thesignal circuit only in responsetoa predetermined condition of the line ofcshort duration, said means comprising a fast to release relay and a slow to release relay having their-windings in the line circuit,,said.switch inthe operating position closing the motor circuit and short circuiting the. windings of saidv relays d2. A; call system for a telegraph line comprising a signal device, a, circuit therefor, a relay responding to a linev condition for closing said-circuit and at the same time short circuiting the relay windingand means operating after a predetermined duration of said line condition for opening said short circuit. I I

' 13. Aprinting telegraph system compris ing a plurality of stations, anormally closed line connecting said stations, printing telegraph apparatus and amotor therefor at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations and means at said first station, directly in said line circuit, responsive to an opencircuitcondition-of the lineto effect the startingof said motor and other means also directly in said line circuit responsive when said line is maintained open for a predetermined period to effect the stopping of said motor.

14. A printing telegraph system comprising a plurality of stations, a normally closed line connecting said stations, a printing telegraph apparatus and a motor therefor at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations, a relay at said first station responsive to an open circuit condition of said line to effect the starting of said motor and a second relay in series with the first relay responsix e when said line is maintained open for a predeterimined period to effect the stopping of said motor.

15. A printing telegraph system comprising a plurality of stations, a normally closed line connecting said stations, a printing telegraph apparatus, a motor therefor and a call signal at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations, a relay at said first station responsive to an open circuit condition of the line to effect the operation of said signal and a second relay in series with said first relay responsive when said line is maintained open for a predetermined period to discontinue the operation of said signal.

16. A printing telegraph system comprising a plurality of stations, a normally closed line connecting said stations, a printing telegraph apparatus, a motor therefor and a call signal at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations, a relay at said first station responsive to an open circuit condition of the line to effect the operation of said signal and starting of said motor and a second relay in series with said first relay responsive when said line is maintained open for a predetermined period to effect the stopping of said motor and discontinuing the operation of said signal, said second relay being slower to operate and slower to release than said first relay.

17. A printing telegraph system comprising a plurality of stations, a normally closed line connecting said stations, a printing telegraph apparatus and a motor therefor at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations, electro-magnetic means at said first station directly in the line circuit responsive to an open circuit condition of said line to effect the starting of said motor and further responsive when said line is maintained open for a predetermined period to effect the stopping of said motor and means for eliminating said electro-magnetic means from said line circuit during the operating of said printing telegraph apparatus.

18. A printing telegraph system comprising a plurality of stations, a normally closed line connecting said stations, a printing telegraph apparatus, a motor therefor and a call signal at one of said stations, means for opening and closing said line at the other of said stations, a relay at said first station responsive to an open circuit condition of the line to effect the operation of said signal, a second relay in series with said first relay responsive when said line is maintained open for a predetermined period to discontinue the operation of said signal and means for eliminating said relays from the line circuit during operation of said printing telegraph apparatus.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM B. BLANTON. 

